Main Stream Media's Failure

 The temp was 76 (F) this morning when I woke up.  When I checked out the forecast for today there was one word:  Toasty!  That being said, the drapes are pulled in my upstairs windows.  Remember, my upstairs windows are very old, quite possibly the original windows installed when the house was built in 1905.  This means that when the sun hits them, they turn into magnifying heat rays raising the temps upstairs into the mid 90s (F).  The central air helps, but it can do little to combat  the problem with the windows.  In about 6 weeks this problem will be solved.

I'm also preparing to order the new chair for the writing room.  I'd have ordered it earlier, but I didn't want it arriving while I was in Greece.  

Since it's so hot, I'm not planning on going for a walk in Adams-Ricci today, or possibly tomorrow.  Temps should be dropping on Thursday thanks to the rains we're supposed to be getting from Beryl.  That might turn my lawn back to green.  No one in the neighborhood has mowed their brown grass lately.  

I planted 2 grape vines, one is growing nicely, the other?  I water both daily and I discovered that one not growing had been snapped off at the base.  I don't know how that happened, but suspect that means that it's a goner.  Of course, that happened to one of my Itoh peonies and it took 3 years before it began to sprout.  I don't know anything about grapes, so maybe the same thing will happen.  Here's a pic of the one that's growing, ignore the bird poop, I wasn't going to clean it off for the picture.

Evidently, the Orange Anus had not been seen in public in 10, no make that 11 days.  Biden, on the other hand, has make 18 appearances, and at not one did he appear feeble.  Apparently Trump is supposed to have some sort of rally today in Florida, where the temp are supposed to be in what?  the low 100s (F).  It's very close to one of his Florida properties, and he gets chauffeured to every location.  So, if it takes place, he'll probably show up.  We shall have to wait and see.

One of the ironies of this election is that in 2016 and 2020, the Republicans shrieked against polls and the Main Stream Media, this time, with they're not, in fact, they seem to be getting quite cuddly with the same groups they disparaged terribly in the previous 2 elections.  One thing Democrats have learned, is that polls lie, and that the main stream media will is more favorable to a candidate who's promising to give them tax breaks.  They simply don't understand that their advertising would go to shit if an authoritarian government ever gets elected because they'd all have to report the same shit, and any media group that didn't follow policy would be shut down.  You'd think these dummies would look at how things are really done in Russia, or China, or North Korea. 

Putting our Feet Down

 Well, we're having a mini-heatwave here.  Temps are very warm, in fact most of you would say it's damn hot and I might just agree with you.  Yesterday our mercury climbed to 97 (F) with a real fee of 101 (F) and I stayed inside the house throughout the afternoon.  I did go for my walk at Adams-Ricci in the morning, but the temps were cooler than, in the upper 70s (F).  And we have more on tap for today, Monday, and Tuesday.  Drat, there goes my electric bill.  For the past 2 years, our summers were cool and my Central Air was only run sparingly.  Yesterday, that baby was going on every hour or so, and I have the first floor temp set at 74 (F).

My brother had a family cookout yesterday and invited me, and I politely declined because of the heat.  Usually, I work on Saturdays, but yesterday I had off and if it hadn't been so hot, would have accepted.  I get along well with he and his wife, and his kids.  

Instead, I spent most of the day working on The Body in History.  I wrote an entire chapter tentatively titled Labyrinth and yes, if you're are curious, Eli and Max do get to meet Pan... or maybe it isn't.  Maybe it's just a college student with 7 little goats.  And maybe Max, the smartass, makes one of the most groan inducing puns in the world.

And for those who think the economy is bad, just look what the stock market is doing.

You would think that those stock holders who've been raking in the $$$ for the past 3 years would realize that the resulting chaos of a Trump presidency would drive the market down, but they don't.  All they can think about is another tax break, which would be bad news for a majority of Americans since the last tax break Trump gave them hasn't been paid for yet.  In fact, Wall Street is responsible for a lot of the economic problems facing Americans today.  The price you pay for breakfast cereal is totally dependent upon how much money General Mills, or Post, or Kellogg needs to make on each box of Cheerios, or Frosted Flakes they sell.  The more revenue they earn, the happier Wall Street is, and their stock price goes up.  Wall Street doesn't care if you have to pay $4.59 for a box of Grape Nuts, as long as you keep paying it.  Most people don't understand that in today's economy, inflation translates to corporate greed.  Prices go up and will stay high in order for General Mills, and Post, and Kellogg to insure Wall Street that they're going to be keeping their 5% growth their stock holders expect.  The Average American is always going to be screwed over by Big Business until we Americans finally put our foot down.

We Call this a Veggie Tray

 Hello Wednesday, August 17.   We now have little over a month left of summer.  As Maddie noted on an earlier entry, the season has not been bad for us.  No scorching temps in the low 100s, (F) just a few days where they climbed into the upper 90s (F).  There were also a few days when the humidity was so sponge thick my T-shirts felt like clammy saran wrap draped over my shoulders every time I went outside.  But, other than that, the weather's been quite reasonable.  And lucky us, daily temps climbing into the low 100s (F) our not foreseen in our future, at least not for the 30 years.  However, a number of Republican held states do not appear to be so lucky.  

From the Washington Post

Yesterday was a day of accomplishments.  Grouting on the new tile surface in the kitchen was done, though not completed.  I need more grout.  Laundry was done.  Some yardwork was done.  I started a 5 hour walk through Pompeii; I had no idea the town was that large.  

And I resolved my issue with Rosetta Stone... somewhat.  Even though I have the discs I purchased some years ago, and even though Windows 11 has no problem running them, Rosetta Stone shut down the server my software.  Since my course is no longer functional, they gave me 3 free months.

I was sorry to see Liz Cheney lost her bid for reelection.  This was to be expected, however, since she's from a Cracker Jack Crazy Conservative state infatuated with authoritarianism. 

In PA, Oz is the brunt of oh so many jokes because he released a commercial in which he's shopping for veggies for a crudité tray.  The supermarket he is in is actually named Redners, yet he mispronounced it Regners, and his campaign aired the commercial.  Of course, Fetterman knows how to troll.

crudité?  We call this a veggie tray

So, you shouldn't be surprised to find out that the NRSC (National Republican Senate Committe) has pulled its funding for ads in PA.  Yepper, they're not going to buy ads for Oz.

Fools

 Ah, the last day of August.  For most of you out there, like here in Central PA, this has been a very hot summer.  I can remember a time when a string of days when the thermometer was constantly in the mid to up 90's (F) was called a Heat Wave.  Now?  The temps need to register in the low 100's (F) for that to happen.  Global Warming, you know?  That thing a large number of Americans still don't believe in because it cuts against the grain of their socially conservative beliefs.  Fools.

Over the next couple of days the temps are are supposed to be moderate, in the low to mid 80's (F).  I'm up for that.  We're approaching a seasonal change.  One of my neighbors who has spent most of the summer disparaging the heat said the stupidest thing to me yesterday.  "I hope this means we have a warm winter."  Evidently her mind has a problem understanding the relationship between a warm winter and a hot summer, or that one is most likely going to lead to the other.  Fool.

While I am on Twitter, I don't follow the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  I understand there are literally millions who follow him, not because they like him, rather they do so to mock the Hell out of his Tweets.  It's not the responses he cares about, just the number of followers.  He would never follow any of these people, in fact the loudest voices he would like to silence.  Who does he follow?  Conspiracy theorists.  He desperately wants to turn their "what ifs" into reality, especially those that are negative.  The fool still believes in the old 'divide and conquer' cliche.  You split them apart by trying to throw as much shit at them as you can find.  He loves his conspirators without understanding how big of a fool they make him look.  His brain is already fried.  They make it worse.  To prove how badly his neurotransmitters are, I'm going to borrow a bit from an old PSA.

These are Conspiracy Theories

This is his brain on Conspiracy Theories

He is as big of a fool as a back alley junkie.

Swept Away

 Well, I got out of bed at my standard 0445 this morning.  This is how life is for me.  I'm a morning person.  I like to get things done as early as possible so I have the rest of the day to do what I want.  Managing your time is important, it is yours after all.  True, you have to give some to your employer in order to get a paycheck, but after those 8 hours are done it all 'your time' to spend as you wish.

I'm going to spend some of my time this morning by driving into Staples - I need some small tablets for making my grocery lists.  A walk with the dogs is also planned; early though, because of the heat.  Yes, it's still hot here, at least for today.  There is a 60% chance of thunderstorms.  Tomorrow the temps are supposed to only get into the low 80's (F).  Hopefully the hottest part of summer is over.  Just think, thanks to global warming, every summer will be getting warmer.

Yesterday, as I was walking down the stairs, I caught a glimpse of both dogs sitting on the futon in the living room.  Since I had my phone with me, I snapped a picture.

And, of course, for those of you who haven't realized it yet, those Executive Orders by the Idiot Jerk in the White to help benefit the (cough, cough) common man, were really designed to give him a boost in the polls.  It isn't going to work.  Believe it or not, most Americans have already made their minds up on how they're going to vote this November.  That, too, should not come as a surprise to you.  That decision began to solidify almost 4 years ago, when an electoral win put him into the White House.  The Second Republicans started saying "shut up, we're in charge," votes were already being set in concrete.  Rather than move to the center, they hardlined to the Right, all the while saying "we have the majority in the House and Senate."  Their inability to understand America, their need to force their Conservative will onto a Centrist country, is the reason the lost the House in 2018.  That lost was a real eyeopener for them.  America was not going to sit back and swallow their hatred.  They knew back then that the odds of the Idiot Jerk surviving into a 2nd term were shrinking daily.  And so they buckled down on tearing apart Centrist America believing all their changes were going to be permanent.  They don't understand.  Everything they've put in place is going to be swept away.

The Season of Sweat

It was hot yesterday.  Today will be hot as well.  Temps in the 90's (F) are forecast well into next week.  This is what temps are normally like in July in Central PA, upper 80's and 90's.  We are now in the season of sweat.

Yesterday was rather slow at the store.  Not that we didn't have customers, there were, however, not the numbers we normally see approaching a holiday.  In normal years, after the Memorial Day sales, customer counts tend to go down because vacations start.  There is the slow simmer of anticipation of an approaching school year.  This year is different.  I do not doubt schools will reopen in the fall, but vacations?  They are another matter.  My brother in law's family rent a house down in Duck, NC every year.  They're going. But then they're staunch Conservatives.  Catching Covid is no sweat off of their brow.  Since, in their minds, the numbers are low, they probably won't catch it.

There was some sort of odd comparison in Bloomberg regarding China's improving economy and that of the United States after yesterday's jobs report.  The author was trying to point out similarities.  He missed a big one:  China shut down completely and America did not.  China's infection rate is very low... ours is going through the roof.  China's people are sitting in a carefully controlled sauna.  We, on the other hand, are stuck in a sweat box.

Yesterday, the governor of Texas suddenly mandated the wearing of masks in every county where there were at least 20 cases of Covid 19.  This after his Lieutenant Governor Patrick said Fauci had been wrong every single time.  In case you've forgotten, Patrick is also the fool who said people shouldn't mind dying to spur on economic growth.  Patrick isn't sweating this infection.  Nope.  For him, every death is just another human sacrifice.

Finally, Conservatives have been bandying about their claim that the virus is spreading because of young people going to bars and restaurants.  They have no idea how self-incriminating those claims are since they were the ones who want the bars and restaurants open.  Are they now trying to say they thought unlimited access to those establishments meant no one was going to go?  How stupid are these people?  Now they're beginning to sweat their little nads off because the infection rates in these states are going through the roof... because of decisions they, themselves, made.

And summer's just getting started.

Spring has sprung in Central PA

I thought that for Earth Day I'd write a little something about the weather.  Working for a retailer whose business depends largely upon the weather I do tend to hear a lot of comments about... the weather.  If I had a nickle for every time I had to listen to a customer complain about how bad this past winter was I could buy a really nice bottle of wine.  I'd really like to tell them they need to sit down at their computer and research the weather history for Central Pennsylvania.  If they did, they'd discover that between 20 and 25 years ago things started getting a bit warmer.  Back then, this was your standard winter.  Instead, they seem to think that the winter before, the one of 2012, was normal.  They don't seem to understand that past winter was the warmest we have every had since they've been keeping records.  Days when the temperature rarely rose above the teens were, at one point, consider normal.  Winter always included snow and ice, that's why it's called winter not late autumn or early spring.  Because this was a BAD winter a lot of retailers, including the one I work for, ran out of silly little things... like salt and ice melt.  In fact, people were buying 'water softener' salt to clear away their ice, even though that type of salt is not good for concrete.  As a result, in a few years, when their sidewalks begin to crack, we'll be able to sell them Quikcrete.

Now, a day doesn't go by when I don't hear someone complaining how spring is late this year.  They don't seem to understand the season is a transitional period.  It is at this time of the year when the Earth begins tilting on it's axis.  That's right, the Earth tilts back and forth.  In the winter the norther latitudes are actually closer to the Sun then they are in the summer....  This is Earth Day, remember?  If you are celebrating the planet you should understand the rotational process, how are orbit is actually elliptical.  Too many believe the definition of Spring is "warm and sunny days."  This is why we say 'April showers bring May flowers.'  We are transitioning between the cold, crisp days of Winter and the steaming hot days of Summer.

Of course a number of retailers don't like this.  They want Spring to turn on instantly, like turning on a light.  They want to be able sell vast quantities of mulch, and soil, and grass seed, and they want to do it now.  How well they do on Wall Street is a direct reflection of consumer's spending habits.  How foolish to have your profitability depend upon a transitional period which may actually keep people inside.  Today is Earth day and in Central Pennsylvania it is cool and rainy.  Since it's my day off I would have preferred the weather to be nice and sunny.  I do have yard work which needs to be done.   However we are passing from a cold season to a warm season which means we're not always going to get what we want from the weather.  Hey, it's Earth Day!  Ain't it great to be on a green planet in the Goldilocks zone?